Customer Reviews

The Good Neighbors #1: Kin

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the Publishers of Jeff Smith's Bone Volume 7: Ghost Circles comes a new series from one of the authors of the The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath. The series called Kin debuts this fall with The Good Neighbors. This is a fantastic graphic novel. The story is strong and compelling, the characters are enticing and draw the readers in, and the artwork is excellent.

This is the beginning of the story of Rue Silver. Rue thought she was a typical student - she had good friends, hung out, went to class and broke into abandoned buildings to climb and explore in them. But now her mother has just disappeared, her father has been arrested, suspected of killing her and one of his grad students. However the story is not as direct as that. Because, unbeknownst to her, Rue is a faerie, like her mother. Rue embarks on a quest - a quest to save her father, a quest to find her mother and after discovering her fey roots, a quest to understand herself and her role in the world. For a battle is brewing between the faerie world and our world, and a dark faerie has plans to make mortals live in fear of the good neighbors once again.

This book reads like a cross between Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere: A Novel and Stardust but with a much darker edge than Stardust. Drawn completely in grayscale, it has an otherworldly feel yet strangely familiar. Black's story draws you in and compels you to read on and Naifeh's images powerfully complement the words. The only drawback is that the book leaves you hanging and desperate to find out what happens next, and yet I cannot find a release date for book two anywhere. So once you are hooked you might have to wait a while for the next installment. But even with that the book is more than worth the effort.

(First published in Imprint 2008-09-19.)

I have read all of Holly Black's work and it came as no suprise to me that I loved The Good Neighbrs. I was concerned that I would not enjoy a graphic novel as much as her other stories, but I loved it. I can not wait for the second one to come out!

a friend gave us this book...
dear lovers of faerie lore,
... and we didn't realize that it was going to be a graphic novel. We were expecting something like Black's novels Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, or Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, or Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale. About 15 years ago we had stopped reading graphic novels. Not intentionally, we had just bought a number but we never read them. We don't know why, we just stopped. So getting a graphic novel made us a bit hesitant. We were, however, pleasantly surprised. It is a good story about Rue Silver who begins seeing the Faerie all around her (we won't tell you the rest, you can get that from other reviews or better yet read the story yours'elf) and the art by Ted Naifeh is great. The only reason we're giving it four stars instead of five is because it is essentially just a rehashing of old lore, a well done rehash mind you, but there is nothing original here. Black doesn't innovate as far as we can see and we'd love to have her do so (perhaps in the future). Still, it was a lot of fun and we plan to get the next book in the series as well. Suddenly, just as abruptly as we gave it up, we're reading graphic novels again.
kyela,
the silver elves

Holly Black tells creepy faerie tales. Ted Naifeh draws eerie stories about otherworldly creatures.

So unsurprisingly they mesh together well in "The Good Neighbors: Kin," the first part of a graphic novel series about a girl living half in faerie, half in our world. While the plot seems cliche at first, Black successfully throws some curve balls in the form of missing mothers, murders and a series of thoroughly creepy, inhuman faery creatures.

Ever since her spacey (read: faery) mother vanished, Rue has been seeing strange things -- elves, goblins, butterfly-winged faeries and other bizarre creatures. When her dad is arrested for the murder of a student, it forces Rue to find out what has happened to her mother, and to figure out exactly what kind of creature her mother really is.

Then her sinister maternal grandfather appears, demanding that Rue come to live with him -- and his servant Tam hints that Grandpa isn't planning on . Rue is forced to enlist her mortal friends in her hunt for some very nasty secrets: the student's death, the affair that drove her mother back into her own world -- and a terrible trick that is being played on her.

"The Good Neighbors: Kin" is apparently Holly Black's first stab at a graphic novel -- but you wouldn't know it. It's a very polished, lean story that successfully winds together several plot threads, and manages to throw some surprisingly twists. Some of the answers to these mysteries aren't what you'd initially expect -- and the people in them aren't always what they seem.

But Black also knows how to spin up an atmosphere of shadowy, slightly ominous otherworldliness -- moving vines, punky fairies, a few nasty geas, and some very gruesome old stories of murdered "changeling" women. At the same time, there's a beauty to many of Rue's experiences, such as when she unconsciously makes roses grow over herself, or remembers her mother's fey answers to basic questions.

And if you want to get all analytical, "Kin" handles the growing pains of an adolescent leaving innocence behind. Rue has to grapple with her faerie nature and how it may alienate her boyfriend, while she also tries to figure out what kind of world faerie is. And the mysterious Tam is a striking one: he's forced to obey whether he likes it or not, and there's a bit of a spark between him and Rue.

Ted Naifeh's artwork suits the storyline wonderfully -- dark, slightly jagged, and drawn with fluid realism. While it would be a bit better if it were colored, it adds to the poetry of Black's writing.

"Good Neighbors: Kin" is a solid start to Holly Black's graphic novel series, and though it ends on a cliffhanger, it promises to only get better.

Rue Silver's life is about to be turned upside down. Already, her mother has disappeared after having a loud argument with her father. Even worse, she's now beginning to see things --- frightening things, like people with horns and wings that no one else notices. What's worse, the things she sees are looking back at her.

Matters quickly get worse from there. Police are already curious about her mother's disappearance, but when one of her father's college students is found murdered after visiting his office, they arrest him. Armed with a determination to uncover the truth, Rue begins investigating the case on her own. What she finds brings her deeper into a fantasy world she knows precious little about, a world she's a part of whether she likes it or not: the dark and dangerous realm of the faeries. Sometimes known as "the fair folk," they have some very sinister plans afoot. Rue gets a taste of those plans when she meets the grandfather she never knew. He wants her to come live with him, but Rue is rightfully afraid.

Holly Black has proven she knows her way around this territory, most notably in The Spiderwick Chronicles, but also in the faerie-themed books TITHE, VALIANT and IRONSIDE. This is her first time writing about the faerie world in graphic novel form, though, and for this foray in the medium, she has been paired with a perfect partner in the form of artist Ted Naifeh, himself no stranger to the otherworldly. His Courtney Crumrin series is a top-notch mixture of fantasy and spine-tingling fiction. Here, he nicely gives his artwork a solidly human perspective shaded with dark overtones. He evokes fear and wonder at the same time, and the flow of his panels has a cinematic quality that pair gracefully with Black's lean prose.

As an introduction to this new series, KIN kicks things off with a bang. It nicely sets the stage for a portentous battle between evil forces and the good people who will try to stop them. The murder mystery at the heart of this story is perhaps too quickly and easily dispatched, but it clears the way for the far more interesting storyline of Rue's self-discovery. Rue is refreshingly unique, a bright character (it's nice to see a teenage protagonist who doesn't have to speak with razor-sharp wit all the time) with a genuine curiosity about life. She's smart and determined without being affected, a nice touch.

The Good Neighbors shows great promise as a series. It targets an audience 12 and older with a story that effortlessly glides between thriller and mystery. Equally impressive is its fine pacing; it's a book to savor at leisure and the plot doesn't feel the need to rush. Still, that kind of pacing can have a dark side, as evidenced by the publishing schedule for future books in the series. The second and third installments are projected to be published in 2009 and 2010, respectively, a long wait for readers anxious to find out what will become of the enchanting Rue Silver.

--- Reviewed by John Hogan

As a huge fan of Tithe, Valiant and Ironside I was super excited for this graphic novel to come out. I was not dissapointed. The art was beautiful and the story kept my attention. I could not put this book down until I finished and I cannot wait until the next book comes out!

I loved the story and the art. You should have switched Rue and Aubrey's names though. I wonder how you came up with Rue for a girl's name. The artwork took a while to grow on me, because it is so dark. I look forward to a 2nd book.
If you like this book, check out Jamie McKelvie's Suburban Glamour.

With the help of illustrator Ted Naifeh, Holly Black has built another Faerie world for us to love. The first book of the Good Neighbors, Kin, begins the unraveling of a mystery (he disappearance of her mother) - which, of course, leads to a few other mysteries (Did her father kill her? And who is her mother, really?) that our main character, Rue Silver, has to follow to fruition. The problem with the mystery element of Black's narrative is that it is too fast-paced. There is no breathing room for the reader to draw his own conclusions from the clues, which are subtle on one page but explained on the next. But what seems to be lacking in pacing is made up for with the twists that the authors have woven into the plot as it unfolds: the secret family feud, the old-timey folklore, the curses, the love triangles, the P.I.-esque detective work. All of this is seamlessly layered onto our modern world, where teenagers go out for coffee and chat online and go to rock n roll shows. While perhaps not as enchanting as the first Spiderwick series, the Good Neighbors is promising -- an exciting read with hearty visual accompaniment.

Good Neighbors is an entertaining read about a young adult girl named Rue, whose mother, an elven lady has disappeared. Her father is framed by the fairies for the crime, and she believes she is going insane because she has started to see Fae (the fairies), all over town.

Believing her father is innocent, Rue begins to investigate the crime only to discover her true heritage as a half-Fae girl.

I really liked the Good Neighbors, but particularly the artwork. The artist has a real flair for capturing the impending menace fo the Fae people and their world, by showing the fae- just out of the corner of the eye- mingling with humanity. The characters are well-portrayed and in general I liked it.

The only improvement I feel which could be made to the graphic novel, would be to beef up the dialog a bit and to make Rue a bit more sympathetic. I felt she was a bit self absorbed and cold and didn't like- for instance, how she treatd Naveen. I would've tried to help him if I could.

Anyway, I've ordered the second book in the series. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

From the highly acclaimed Spiderwick series, author Holly Black takes us into a new realm, the magical world of fairy. Book one of a new trilogy, Kin sets the scene of mystery, magic and pure fun.

Rue isn't worried that her mother seems to have disappeared. Or at least, that is what she keeps telling herself. One evening she was kept awake by the high voices of her parents arguing. When she finally went downstairs to see what the commotion was about, her father was crying and saying it was all his fault. Her mother had vanished.

A few days later, she comes home from school and the police have her house surrounded. Rushing towards the front door, she is stopped by a police officer. They are arresting her father for murder. A student had been found slain, and her father , a professor, was the last to see her.

Weird things begin to happen to Rue. She meets her mother's family for the first time, not knowing her mother had any family. Her grandfather is dark and threatening. She begins to think she is crazy, seeing things that really aren't there; or are they? She imagines wings and beaks on people and the shadows creeping closer to her. She goes to the library and does some research.

Before long, she learns that her mother didn't disappear. Her father had broken a promise to Rue's faerie king grandfather, and because of that, her mother was dying. Now Rue must go to save her, and must also defeat a dark faerie that threatens our very mortal world.

As the first graphic book I have read, I was highly impressed. The illustrations are fantastic. Very detailed, but so full of emotion and atmosphere, the characters almost leap off the page. The plot is sound and full of promise of magical things to come. The end will leave you hanging, just begging for more. I look forward to the next installment of this magical world of fairy.